Process of producing sodium sulfid.



E. M. SYMMES.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING SODIUM sumo.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9. x911.

Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I Br I r g 7 m ATTORNEYS E. M. -SYMMES.

PROCESS OF PRODUCI NG SODIUM SULFID.

APPLICATION. FILED JUNE 911917.

Patented Dec. 2%, 1918.

H ET, 2. I

3 SHEETSS ma mas INVENTOR A TTOR/VE rs from mter cake.

ERNEST MONTGOMERY SYMMES, OF BACCHUS, UTAH, ASSIGNOR 'I'O HERCULES POWDER COMPANY, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING SODIUM SULFID.

Application filed June 9, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST MONTGOMERY bnums, of Bacchus. in the county of Salt Lake. and in the State of I tah, have in- .yented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes of ProducingSodium Sulfid, and do hereby declare that the following is"-'a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

'-My invention relates particularly to a process for the production of sodium sulfid The object of my invention is to provide a process for producing sodium sulfid from niter cake in such a manner as to avoid the corrosion of the furnace lining in the process and so as to avoid consequent contamination of the product as the result of any such corrosion. Hitherto, furnaces in which sodium sulfids were produced wvere lined with fire bricks but such furnace linings could not resist the attack of the materials in con tact therewith. It was necessary therefore, for them to be often replaced and they formed in addition a source of contamination in the sulfids produced. I

The object of my invention is to avoid these disadvantages and to carry out the process in connection with a furnace the walls of which cannot be corroded by the materials. I

The object of my invention is furthermore to carry out the process in connection with a. furnace lined with corrosiron which I have discovered is not attacked by the fused alkali sulfids, free sulfur, etc., present even at a bright red heat.

Further objects of my invention will appear from a detailed description thereof contained hereinafter.

'hile my invention is capable of being carried out in many different ways for the purpose of illustration I have described herein only one manner of carrying out the.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

Serial No. 173,738.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the furnace taken on the line 33 of Fig. '1.

into the chamber 5 beneath the ladle G. The

ladle 6 is made of corrosiron, that is to say an alloy of iron and silicon, containing at least 15% of silicon and which may amount to 20% of silicon. The furnace gases pass from the chamber 5 through a passageway 11 to a chamber 12 and thence into a stack 13 having a damper ll which may be turned to regulate the draft.

In carrying out my process I fuse together at a red heat 4 parts of niter cake, that is to say acid sodium sulfate with one part of ordinary salt or such proportions of niter cake and salt as will give the neutral salt after fusion of the two thus producing a neutral cake. This operation may be carried out in any ordinary type of furnace and is not intended to be carried out in the fur nace shown in the drawings. the neutral cake thus obtained is mixed together with powdered coke in the following proportions: Neutral cake 63 parts, powdered coke 37 parts, and the mixture is in- "t-roduced into the ladle (5 and fused therein to approximately a temperature of 888 C. The coke reduces the sodium sulfate in the cake so as to produce sodium sulfid. Be- 'ause of the material of which the ladle 6 is made the fused substances including alkali sulfids, free sulfur, etc., do not attack the material of the ladle at all and the ladle will therefore last for an indefinite period for this purpose and the sodium sulfid produced is not contaminated in any way by having been produced in the ladle 6. hen the reaction is complete the ladleti is turned upon the trunnions 'T and 8 so that the contents may be conducted away by means of the trough 9. The sodium sulfid thus ob tained may be purified in any desired manner, as by leaching etc.

Thereafter Whil I h d ib d my i ti I 2. The process which comprises produc- 10 above in detail I wlsh itto be understood mg a sulfid by fusion of sodium sulfate wlth that; many changes may be made therein 001(811121COllfzllDBI'Of cori'osn'on.

7 Without departing from fiche spirit of my In testimony that I claim-the foregoing I invention. 1 v have hereunto set in hand.

What I claim is v ERNEST MONTGOMERY SYMMES. 1. The process which comprises produc- Witnesses: ing a sulfid by fusion of a sulfate with car- ,Jos. S. DARKE, bon in a container of corrosiron. 'R. A. LINDBLADE. 

